#Plutoflyby showed a side of scientists people rarely get to see… that we are people with feelings

It is very rare that people outside science can catch a glimpse of what it feels to accomplish something in science. Scientists don’t receive a huge media coverage when a grad student finally manages to synthesize a molecule after working on it for months. Even with the discovery of the Higgs boson the coverage centered on the science and not on the people behind it. But imagine just for a moment working at CERN and receiving the news that you have finally found the Higgs! Think about how that must have felt after spending years looking for it.

People sometimes see scientists as cold, automated experiment-making machines because they only tend to see the end result, the hard science facts and the experimental details that took to achieve the goal. But if they could look at the day to day, at our frustrations, at the happiness after reaching tiny milestones and the final sense of triumph maybe they would see us differently. And that is what the #plutoflyby showed yesterday….

Research on science education has showed that one of the main reasons kids (and specially girls) are not interested in science is because they perceive scientists as cold and without passion. But we are passionate and get super excited when we make new discoveries. And how could one not being excited after seeing this: